The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced its intent to issue two waivers of certain laws to expedite security improvements at the southwest border. Congress gave the Secretary of Homeland Security authority to waive all legal requirements necessary to expeditiously install additional physical barriers and roads at the border to deter illegal activity.

Testimony of Assistant Secretary and Chief Medical Officer Jeffery Runge, M.D. on the FY 2009 budget request for the Office of Health Affairs before the House Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security on April 1, 2008.

Critics of REAL ID often misrepresent what it is and what it is not. Probably the most egregious myth is the claim that the law creates a national ID that Americans will be required to carry.

Wrong. REAL ID is simple. The regulation requires that states meet minimum security standards when they issue driver’s licenses and identification cards necessary for “official purposes,” like getting on a plane or entering federal buildings. That’s it. The federal government’s role is to make sure that states meet minimum standards of security, so that banks and airports in one state can count on the quality of licenses issued in another.

States will still control their licenses and the personal information they collect. And, they will have plenty of flexibility in setting the license’s design, physical security features, and issuance procedures. These minimum standards will make it harder for terrorists to take advantage of the weak security of a particular state, the way Timothy McVeigh did when he used a fake South Dakota license to rent a Ryder truck in Oklahoma to bomb the Murrah Federal Building.

Don’t want a REAL ID? Don’t get one. If you don’t need a driver’s license or similar ID today, nothing in the REAL ID Act requires you to get one. In fact, the federal government does not have the authority to regulate how or whether a bank, grocery store, retailer, or school requires REAL ID. States and private companies make those determinations. So, given that states will have control over the production and issuance processes, the design and features of the card, and the data stored, how can anyone argue that REAL ID is a national ID? In short, they can’t, but that does not stop them from trying.

REAL ID is one of the last 9/11 Commission recommendations that still remains to be implemented. All but one of the nineteen 9/11 hijackers carried some form of government-issued ID, mostly state driver’s licenses, many of which were obtained fraudulently. In the planning stages for the attacks, these documents were used to rent vehicles, evade law enforcement, enroll in flight school, and board airplanes on that fateful day.

The 9/11 Commission was dismayed, like the rest of us, by how easy it was for the hijackers to beat the system. That’s why the Commission recommended that “(s)ecure identification should begin in the Untied States. The Federal Government should set standards for the issuance of birth certifications and sources of identification, such as driver’s licenses.”

Critics of REAL ID have been busy throwing a lot of spaghetti on the walls. They’ll tell you it’s a national ID, it invades privacy, or that it’s too expensive. Spaghetti throwing is almost a pastime in the beltway. It is also an indication that one lacks valid arguments. So, absent that validity, they’ll throw out a bunch of poor arguments and see which ones stick.

But, REAL ID is too important for these sorts of myths or games. I have commented on some of them in earlier blogs, and I’m still waiting for a convincing argument in favor of insecure identification. If you have one, I’d sure like to see it.

For more information on REAL ID, visit: www.dhs.gov/realid.

Stewart A. Baker
Assistant Secretary for Policy

Questions and answers on the publication of the Western Hemisphere Land & Sea final rule.

The Homeland Security and State Departments announce WHTI Land and Sea Final Rule, with an implementation to occur on June 1, 2009.

Is REAL ID a threat to privacy? There are critics who will say so. But, these same critics can’t and won’t tell you precisely how REAL ID threatens privacy. There’s a reason for that. They have no evidence. The facts are that REAL ID will actually increase privacy protections for Americans, and in several concrete ways.

Under REAL ID, state Departments of Motor Vehicles (DMVs)--not the federal government--will continue to control driver’s license data. And, thanks to REAL ID, that data will get additional protection from disclosure. State DMVs will meet tough new security standards for that data.

State security plans must address, among other things:

• the physical security of the facilities and materials used to produce licenses,
• the design and security features on the cards, and
• the security of how the public’s personal information is managed.

In addition to the "Driver’s Privacy Protection Act," which will continue to bar states and their employees from selling or releasing personal information, the DHS Privacy Office has established a set of best practices for the protection of this information. These best practices provide guidance to the states and raise the bar for state DMVs beyond what was previously required by federal or state law.

Another myth we sometimes hear – "But, won’t REAL ID create new links between DMVs, who will now be checking to make sure that drivers don’t hold licenses from several states? Doesn’t that create a risk of hacking, and identity theft?" Here again, the argument does not hold any water. Law enforcement officials from every state can already log into DMV databases check the validity of a license when they perform a traffic stop. And, for the past 16 years DMV officials have run checks for commercial licenses to keep truck drivers from holding multiple licenses. To date, there’s not been a single reported privacy violation.

If you've ever been the victim of identity theft, there's a one-in-three chance that the thief used a fake driver's license to commit the crime. It’s very simple. Making licenses harder to forge will make this crime harder to perpetrate.

For example, REAL ID requires all states to verify birth certificates by going to the source – the states where the certificates were issued. It calls for electronic confirmation of the data on the certificates, making it much more difficult for an identity thief to create a fictitious identity using a forged birth certificate.

There will always be folks who yearn for a simpler day – before Google, before the Social Security Number, and before telephone books. No doubt all of these innovations have had an effect on privacy. But, they’ve also made modern life far more convenient.

There will also always be folks who yearn for a world where ID isn’t necessary. But, we don’t live in such a world. And, pretending we can live without ID will simply make the lives of the criminals, or even terrorists, easier.

A Public Opinion Strategies poll taken last year shows that 82 percent of the American public favors secure identification to prevent terrorism and identity theft. Most all Americans currently reside in states that are well on their way to secure licenses. There’s still time for the remaining three states to get on board, and provide their citizens with a powerful protection against identity theft.

Thanks for reading. I’ll check in with other thoughts on the topic soon.

Stewart A. Baker
Assistant Secretary for Policy

Remarks by Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff at a Roundtable with Kuwaiti Media.

The Department of Homeland Security has begun collecting additional fingerprints from international visitors arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) as part of its US-VISIT program.